


Growing Into It

by thegizka



Series: Shikamaru Week 2019 [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 03:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17358329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegizka/pseuds/thegizka
Summary: Shikamaru experiments with facial hair, but not everyone is a fan.Written for Shikamaru Week 2019 Day 2:  Growth.





	Growing Into It

“Whoa.”  Ino stopped in the doorway, pure surprise on her face.  “What’s with your face?”

 

Typical Ino.  She didn’t pull any punches.

 

“What do you mean, what’s with my face?  It’s the same as it always is.”

 

“You’re saying you usually look like the wrong end of a raccoon?”

 

“Ha ha,” he laughed without mirth.

 

“I think he looks fine,” Chouji said, pushing past their startled teammate.

 

“No offense Chouji, but you’re not exactly what I’d call a fashion icon.”

 

“You said my goatee looks great!”

 

“A little bit of facial hair goes a long way.  Besides, you have the right face shape for it. Shikamaru’s is too thin for a beard.”  


“You’re just overreacting because it took you by surprise,” Shikamaru grumbled.  He really didn’t care whether Ino approved of his beard or not, but he knew she was determined to voice her opinion whether he cared or not.

 

“It’s weird,” she returned matter-of-factly.  “Temari, you agree, right?”

 

Shikamaru’s fiancée had just entered the room, drawn by the sound of their friends arriving.

 

“Are we talking about his face?  Yeah, it’s weird.” She shot Shikamaru a devious smirk.  She knew she was only adding fuel to Ino’s fire, but she was always ready to see him get roasted.  He just rolled his eyes in return.

 

“See?  Temari agrees with me.  It’s ugly.”

 

“Just because something’s weird doesn’t mean it’s ugly.  I mean, look at Sai.”

 

“Hey!”  She bristled.  “At least Sai has the common sense not to grow dumb facial hair!”

 

“Be nice,” Temari chided, smacking the back of his head.

 

“Wait, why am I being yelled at?  I was saying Sai’s not ugly.”

 

“But you _did_ say he was weird.”  Ino was glaring at him with the full force of her fury, which seemed incredibly unfair considering she had called her husband weird on several occasions.

 

“Come on, Ino.  You know Shikamaru didn’t mean anything mean by it.”  Chouji smiled at her appeasingly, always ready to try and smooth over an uncomfortable situation.  It was a shame he had such stubborn teammates whose conversations usually included an argument of some sort.

 

“He does have a habit of saying dumb things,” Temari added, giving her fiancé a pointed look.  He wasn’t getting out of this situation unscathed. Why were the women in his life so troublesome?

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, barely sincere enough to not sound rude.  “I _like_ Sai.  He’s a great guy.  And he’s not as weird as he used to be.”

 

She continued glaring at him.  Was it a half-hearted apology? Perhaps, but it was truthful.  They had spent years complaining at each other and working on the same team, so much so that they knew exactly how each other thought.  Of course Ino understood that he didn’t really mean to throw shade at her husband, and he knew she wasn’t actually that offended. Arguing was simply a habit, the language of two siblings who simultaneously drove each other crazy and were fiercely protective of each other.

 

Eventually she rolled her eyes and let it go.  “Temari, since you’re the sensible one in this relationship, shall we get to work planning your wedding, since that’s what I was invited over here to do?”

 

“Sounds wonderful.  Where do you want to start?”

 

Shikamaru gave Chouji a helpless glance as they took seats around the table, Ino dumping binders and folders of papers and ideas in front of them.  Having recently gotten married herself, she was full of suggestions and insights to help them arrange their big day. When Shikamaru and Temari had finally decided to get married, neither had been particularly interested in all of the details of the ceremony and reception, but as the reality of their decision and commitment to each other set in, Temari had gotten really invested.  Ino was eager to help her work out the details, which was a relief to both of them as Shikamaru rarely had any strong opinions on the matter. He liked to invite Chouji to these planning meetings to help provide some relief from the women’s intensity.

 

As usually happened, the men stuck around for the first half hour or so, contributing a few opinions or simply their token approval before finding a reason to drift away and let the women work out the particulars.  Today they ended up out on the porch, sprawled across the steps sharing some of Chouji’s snacks.

 

“So the beard,” Shikamaru began.  “It’s not that bad, is it?”

 

“I think it looks fine.  Maybe a little sparse in parts, but you just started growing it, right?  I’m sure it’ll fill out in a few more weeks.”

 

He grunted, absentmindedly scratching his cheek.  It was kind of weird to find hair where he had once shaved, but he didn’t mind not having to get out his razor in the mornings.  It meant more time he could spend lying in bed mentally preparing for the day.

 

“Are you growing a beard because Asuma had one?”

 

Chouji’s question was a little unexpected while at the same time exactly what he had expected.  Sometimes his best friend could see right to the root of things faster than he could think through them.  Shikamaru shrugged, letting out a long breath and leaning back on his elbows. They sat in silence for a moment, letting the weight of their sensei’s memory sit with them.

 

“That might be part of it.  But I guess I also wanted to feel...older?  I dunno. All of our friends are getting married, and now so am I, but sometimes it feels like we only just graduated from the academy.  I know I still have a lot to learn and figure out, but there are also people looking to me to teach them and offer advice. It’s just weird.”

 

“I think it’s always going to be like that, though.”  Chouji munched on a potato chip before offering his friend the bag.  “I mean, there will always be things that we’ll have to learn, right?  And really, we are still pretty young. But that just means we still have people we can ask for advice, and then pass that on to the people who ask us.  It’s the Will of Fire, right?”

 

“Yeah.”  Shikamaru let the silence stretch again.  Logically he understood exactly what Chouji was saying, but he still felt strangely stuck between youth and maturity.  Was he really old enough to get married? Of course he was committed to Temari and determined to spend the rest of his life with her, but some days it felt like he could barely take care of himself.  Was he ready to be responsible for her happiness, too?

 

“Your dad had a goatee, too.”

 

He glanced at Chouji, but his friend seemed focused on the clouds and his snacks.  They had never said much about Shikaku’s death. The war hadn’t offered much of a chance to process the loss, leaving Shikamaru hollow and aching as he found himself navigating his daily routine without the familiar presence of his father.  Suddenly he was the head of his clan, responsible for their medical research, the forest with its deer, and the general well-being of his extended family, to say nothing of his duties in the Hokage’s office. He hadn’t realized the extent of his father’s responsibilities until they crashed down upon his shoulders.  There was an emptiness where Shikaku had once been, and somehow he was supposed to fill it. It was another thing making him feel too young and too old at the same time.

 

“I bet you’d look alright with one,” Chouji continued, gently pulling Shikamaru up from the depths of his thoughts.  “Plus we’d kind of match!”

 

“It’s an idea.  Pass me another chip, will you?”

 

“Look at them, out here stuffing their faces while we’ve been working hard.  Weddings don’t plan themselves, you know!”

 

He dropped his head back, giving him an upside down view of Ino and Temari standing in the doorway pretending to be annoyed.

 

“You could have called us if you needed us.”

 

“Well we’re done for today, so I’m heading home.”  Ino brushed her long hair back over her shoulder in a semi-dismissive gesture.

 

“I suppose I’d better get home, too.”  Chouji stood, and with a sigh, the final member of Team Ten followed suit.  “See you later, Shikamaru. Bye, Temari.”

 

They exchanged goodbyes, Ino throwing in a last pointed comment at her friend’s beard as she went.  He couldn’t stop a smile from quirking his lips after he closed the door behind her. They hadn’t outgrown their bickering, and at this point, he wasn’t sure they ever would.

 

“So, what did you decide today?” he asked Temari, settling onto the couch beside her.

 

“Well, we mostly talked about flowers-”

 

“Didn’t you talk about flowers last time?”

 

She shot him a you’re-absolutely-clueless look with her sharp teal eyes.  “Those were flowers for the ceremony. Today we discussed flowers for the reception.”

 

“We need _more_ flowers?  Are you sure this isn’t just a plot for Ino to generate more business?”

 

“Do you want to hear what we decided or not?” she demanded.  He held up his hands in surrender and allowed her to proceed unhindered.  He cared less about what she actually said than how she looked recounting the plans.  She tried to hide it, but she was actually really excited about their wedding, and he loved watching her joy shining through her usually controlled expressions.  It was so genuine that his heart swelled with love, and he couldn’t help but lean in to kiss her cheek.

 

“Oh!” she jerked away from him with a surprised gasp.

 

“What?” he asked, suddenly on alert.  But the next moment she was laughing.

 

“I’m sorry,” she giggled.  “It’s your beard! I’m not used to it yet.  It caught me by surprise.” She cupped his face and kissed him through a few residual giggles.  When she pulled away, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes.

 

“It _is_ a little weird,” she stressed, giggling again.  He rolled his eyes before pulling her back to him.

 

XXX

 

The next time Ino stopped by to discuss the wedding, several weeks had passed.  Shikamaru’s beard had started filling out, but after staring longer than he’d like to admit in the mirror, he saw what she had meant about it looking weird.  He also remembered Chouji’s subtle suggestion of the goatee.

 

When Ino saw him, she froze in the doorway, but she couldn’t summon any words to ridicule him this time.  He knew what she was thinking. He had been struck by the similarity, too. He definitely looked younger and didn’t bear the same battle scars, but he was undoubtedly Shikaku’s son.  He had nearly shaved the goatee because of it, feeling the weight of his father’s legacy, but he also _was_ that legacy.  He was carrying Shikaku’s lessons and responsibilities forward while making them his own.

 

He saw these thoughts pass through Ino’s mind.  She knew what it meant to carry a father’s legacy.  She met his eyes and smiled. “Much better.”

 

“Whatever.”


End file.
